Katie Haley was brutally murdered while her daughter slept. Now her killer will walk free.

Content warning: This post includes descriptions of domestic violence.

Katie Haley was a 29-year-old mother-of-two. She was also a cherished friend, daughter, sibling and more. 

Sadly in 2018, her life was brutally taken by her partner of four years, Shane Robertson, at their home in Melbourne.

Her sister Bianca tells Mamamia that there had been a shift in Katie's relationship following the birth of her daughter, her second child, but her first with Robertson.

He became jealous, possessive and began to exert coercive control over Katie. 

This escalated to him bashing her to death with a 40cm dumbbell bar because he didn't want her to leave him, while their then 11-month-old daughter slept in the next room.

In 2019, Robertson pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 24 years in prison with a non-parole period of 19 years.

In the years since, Bianca and her family have been picking up the pieces, as well as advocating against domestic violence, 

Then in May this year, Bianca received a phone call.

"It was from a blocked private number, so I let it go to voicemail. It said to check my emails as the victim's register would be in touch. I checked my emails and saw I had been sent a generic message informing me of the legislation that applies to how many days my sister's murderer would be getting off his sentence," notes Bianca.

"It was very impersonal, and there was no follow up. We were left completely devastated, and angry."

Image: Supplied.

Bianca had been informed that Robertson had received a sentence reduction, because of little known Victorian legislation, which allows sentence reductions for prisoners under emergency management days — a provision especially impactful during COVID-19. 

The legislation determines that some prisoners can potentially have time shaved off their sentence's non-parole period if an emergency impacts negatively on their time behind bars. COVID-19 is an example of this, where there were harsher isolation requirements for prisoners.

According to the Department of Justice and Community Safety, the provision of emergency management days have been used since the 1990s as an "essential tool" in maintaining security and order in prisons during extraordinary periods.

Robertson had 427 days shaved off his sentence, meaning he will now be eligible for parole sooner than initially outlined. 

"The moment we found out, we decided to contact our local MPs and started reaching out to media, as well as Corrections Victoria. My dad is also on the Victim Survivors' Advisory Council of Victoria. So he wrote a letter to them straight away. He received no correspondence or acknowledgement until two months later when he chased it up," says Bianca.

Renee Heath is the Member for Eastern Victoria Region and she has sponsored a petition on the matter to be debated in Parliament. The petition aims to restrict the emergency management days for violent and high-risk prisoners.

"The legislation is there just to serve the prisoners," Bianca says. "Murderers, rapists, child sex offenders can apply for it, there are no exemptions for who can apply. During COVID-19, we were all in lockdown during that period in Victoria. We all did hardships. The difference is the general public did not commit these heinous crimes, and we're not being compensated for our time in lockdown. These offenders are getting rewarded."

Bianca Haley and her father have become passionate advocates, calling for change. Image: Supplied/Caitlin Rose Taylor Photography.

In a statement to Mamamia, a Department of Justice and Community Safety spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with the Haley family as they continue to try and deal with the trauma of Katie's death."

The Department also encouraged those affected to reach out to the Victims of Crime Helpline on 1800 819 817 for any support they need.

Since learning of the legislation and its impact, Bianca has spoken with many other bereaved families in similar situations.

Recently Bianca was on the radio talking on this issue, and she had other victims' families call in to say they thought they had been the only ones impacted by the emergency management days scheme. 

"They felt like they weren't allowed to talk about it, and we had another person say their loved one's murderer was eligible for a sentence reduction of nearly 400 days. Another family were then informed their loved one's perpetrator had 100 days taken off."

Bianca's advocacy work isn't easy.

"I have my moments where I break down. It is really tough when you have setback after setback, and this emergency management days legislation was a big blow for our family," she says. 

"We want the government to stop putting perpetrators' rights ahead of victims' rights. We are just trying to ensure other families don't experience what Katie went through."

In the six years since Katie's murder, her family are still in the depths of their grief. Bianca and Katie's parents are raising Katie's daughter. Katie's son is being raised by her previous partner. Bianca adds that it's hard to watch the kids' milestones without their mother present. 

"I hope that my sister's legacy is stopping domestic violence, family violence, and all kinds of violence against women. I hope that her legacy is getting this legislation changed so that the monster who murdered her and other types of horrible prisoners and offenders aren't eligible for this type of reward."

"I want to show her kids that and tell them, 'We did that. Your mum did that. You should be proud.'"

If you live in Victoria, you can sign the Victorian Parliament petition here. For those in any other state or territory, Bianca asks that you sign this Change.org petition on the same issue. 

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a national organisation that helps women, children and families move on after the devastation of domestic and family violence. Their mission is to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most. If you would like to support their mission you can donate here. 

Feature Image: Supplied.